What? What Are? What If: 'LIL Darlin's

After the hectic week I had, I still had to get through Sunday.

Sunday is my most favorite day of the week. A person is suppose to rest on Sunday. Re-energize for next week to come....

But my Sunday consisted of this:

Butter

Graham Crackers

Chopped Walnuts

Dark Chocolate Chips

Shredded Coconut

Sweetened Condensed Milk

How can those few ingredients create something delicious?

I look at this recipe as one of Jesus's Parables.

What is a Parable?

Butter and graham crackers (I imagine dry)

A Parable is a fictitious tale, although usually realistic.

A Parable was created to stimulate the mind.

Butter and graham crackers.

My mind stimulation: the crust of a cheesecake

Dark chocolate chips.

My mind stimulation: Bitter sweet

Flaked coconut.

My mind stimulation: Crispy and sweet

During church service on Sunday (I am the one with a notebook and pen taking notes), the Pastor was asking individuals if they knew all the Parables in the Bible.

The answer from everyone he asked was, "NO".

So I am jotting down in my little notebook, "What is a Parable?"

When I got home from church, where do you think I headed? Yup, right to the best resource book I own. My computer.

And I can see why everyone was answering "NO". There are tons of Parables in the Bible.

I have heard that when a person studies and reads they add wrinkles to their brain. The more wrinkles a person has, the smarter they are. I am adding wrinkles to my brain, but I must have started with zero, because I don't think I am any smarter yet.

But back to my 'Lil Darlin Parable....

These ingredients lead to a fictitious brain stimulator, because there is no way these few ingredients will create something tasty.

Believe me, the first bight you take will be a brain stimulator. And it is good to stimulate the brain. It is healthy, we need it, and we have to apply wrinkles to the brain.

'LiL Darlin's

1/2 c. (1 stick) butter

1 1/4 c. finely crushed graham crackers (about 7)

1 c. chopped walnuts

1 c. Special dark chocolate chips

1 c. shredded coconut

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place the butter in an 8x8 square baking dish and set it in the oven to let butter melt (about 5 minutes)

Carefully take the hot dish out of the oven and sprinkle the graham cracker crumbs evenly over the melted butter. Then layer, in order, the nuts, choco chips, and coconut. Pour the milk slowly, and evenly over the top.

Bake for 30 minutes, cool, and then cut into bars.

Good Luck~Happy Eating~Enjoy

Example of a Parable: "Jesus told them still another story. "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast,", he said. "A woman mixed it into a large amount of flour. The yeast worked its way all through the dough." Matthew 13:33

Shame & Angel Blueberry/Lemon Dessert

Would you really like to see what I have been doing?

I have been taking the easy way out when it comes to cooking, baking, and entertaining....

"Why?", You ask....

I have been so busy with school, volunteering, and family.

And the homework just keeps

piling up

and

piling up

and

piling up

Do you ever miss doing something that you have done every day for, let's say, the last six months?

I miss baking and cooking, home-made breads, creative dinner cooking and planning, blog searching, and just visiting my fellow bloggers. I miss the personal time (my time).

And to bring you such easy recipes shames me.

I am hanging my head in shame....

But I have come to realize that if I wouldn't be such a perfectionist, I wouldn't be facing this dilemma.

This dessert was taken to a church meal last Wednesday. There is a woman in the fellowship that is allergic to instant pudding. So, the perfectionist in me set aside a small dish minus the pudding just for her.

I am the same way when it comes to my homework. In my Global Civ class I am learning how to properly construct an essay.

This means proper steps like: Research, annotated bibliography, thesis statement, and outline. Basically the works....

When I receive my work back from the instructor, noted with corrections,

the perfectionist in me says, "Okay, do over."

I feel like I have to correct it until it is right. I really think I am driving myself crazy.

Do you want to hear how crazy I made my day yesterday? Here is the perfectionist once again...

I spent 6 hours working on the newsletter for the church (until it was perfected), rushed to Office Max 17 miles away to make copies of the newsletter, and gave myself 15 minutes to get to class on time, which the college is in the same town as Office Max (Thank God).

So, this is why I have been lacking in blog posts, visits to fellow bloggers, and starving my family.

Hanging head in shame....

Yesterday I had a constant play-back running through my mind.

What do you think it was?

God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can;

and the wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;

Enjoying one moment at a time;

Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;

Taking, as He did, this sinful world

as it is, not as I would have it;

Trusting that He will make all things right

if I surrender to His Will;

That I may be reasonably happy in this life

and supremely happy with Him

Forever in the next.

Amen.

This prayer has brought me to today.

I have tons of homework to do, and I have decided to just take this morning and breathe for a little bit, slow down and get some "my time" out of the way.

Which leads me to sharing this simple, tasty, fits my time, dessert.

I had an angel food cake (about the size of a brick) tucked away in my freezer (for safe keeping).

I cut it into little cubes.

1 box lemon instant pudding (fixed according to package directions)

1 can blueberry pie filling

whipped cream

I layered the ingredients into a trifle bowl. Easy, refreshing, light, dessert.

I have linked this recipe with Eat At Home blog.

Good Luck~Happy Eating~Enjoy

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths." Proverbs 3: 5-6

Creativity! Do you have it?

Since I don't have any recent recipes to share with you (shame on me), I thought I would focus today on creativity, and how creativity came to mind for me today.

First, my story is: I have been really, really busy with school, church, and family.

That is my story, and I'm sticking to it....

I do have some plans for some really good food to bring your way over my spring break. I'm not going to share my menu because, life happens, things sometimes get in the way, and my routine may be interrupted.

But to tell you what brought me to creativity today is, my last trip to the grocery store.

The lady in front of me in the check-out lane had a total purchase of $209.00.

WOW!! You can get a whole lot of groceries for $209.00, right?

But what were the items that she was paying that amount of money for?

Cases of pop

Frozen pizzas

Frozen French fries

Frozen dinners

Bags of chips

Bags of cookies

Prepackaged foods

All I could picture in my mind were her children.....Are you with me here? Those poor kids...

As my soon to be purchases on the conveyor belt are coming up behind hers, I notice a tremendous difference.

100% natural juice

fresh vegetables

fresh meats

yogurt

olive oil

okay, a couple cake mixes and frosting

wheat bread

salad dressings

coffee creamer

$209.00 unhealthy, versus $88.00 healthy

There are things to consider: She may have a bigger family than I do, she may have a job that requires a lot of her time, she is lazy?, she treats her kids with garbage too much, her family may like to eat that way....and I'm sure there are many more considerations.

But, is it really that hard to feed a family by preparing good foods?

I used to work 50 - 60 hours a week when my children were small. Part of my creative life consisted of feeding them well, cooking for them daily, and sitting down to the table together everyday for our meals.

Let's see, how much time did that actually take out of my day? Home-cooked meal + family conversation = maybe 2 hours

What do you need to be creative?

Courage - try new things and risk failure.

Intuition -make decisions and produce ideas.

Play - humor and fun are the ultimate creative acts.

Expressive - injecting your personality into your work

Find Order - research and critical thinking are key tools the creative person

Motivated By A Task - persuading (healthy eating)

Find Solutions - the opportunity to enforce something new

Challenge Assumptions - take what others advise with a grain of salt

Make Connections - between old ideas and new ideas

Push The Envelope - expand the boundaries of what is possible

Test - new ideas (do not be afraid of being wrong or losing)

Do you think this creative list could be applied into everyday cooking? I do! And it can even be fun with the whole family involvement.

"Those who have been stealing must never steal again. Instead, they must work. They must do something useful with their own hands. Then they will have something to give to people in need." Ephesians 4: 28